AuthorTopic: Does the LSDAS honestly count an A+ as more points than an A? (Read 2838 times)

Every source I've read tells me that an A is counted as a 4.0 and an A+ is counted as a 4.33. What about schools that don't offer A+s at all? In the interest of "fairness" shouldn't they count an A+ as an A to make up for this difference in grading policy?I know it's nit-picky, because there's no way for the LSAC to standardize all aspects of a candidate's GPA (hence, the LSAT). However, it seems like this would be an obvious way of leveling the playing field. Do they have any plans to change this A+/4.33 policy in the future?

Yes, LSAC counts A+s as 4.33s and it would be unfair to students at schools with 4.0s, except I do believe in your score report, LSAC gives a grade distribution or something of that matter to show that your school only goes UP to a 4.0, so relatively speaking, while A+s are VERY hard to get I'm sure for students at schools that offer them, having a 3.8/4.0 is better than a 3.8/4.33 (I think, anyway), because at first glance, the former GPA looks closer to the highest possible than the latter, even though those 4.33s are hard to come by. I don't think anyone is changing this anytime soon.

If it really bugs ya, you can always write your GPA out of 4.0 (for emphasis) on your resume. Don't write an addendum about it though, then you'll just come off lame.

I feel your pain though, my school also only goes up to 4.0 AND doesn't inflate grades like some places (e.g. Harvard *cough cough* with their 90% of students making at least cum laude at graduation a few years ago.... !!!)

Yeah it disadvantages people who come from schools that only go up to a 4.0 in terms that it's not really an accurate representation but it's one of many problems (in my view) of the LSAC gpa so whatever....

Wait. Who's talking about a 4.0 gpa? (I certainly don't have one.) My point was simply that had I been able to earn a few A+s at my school, my gpa would look quite different than it does now.

It wouldn't really be that different, unless you got A+'s in every class in which you got A's already. (And my point was, if you could do that, why didn't you get A's in the classes in which you didn't?)

I'm not trying to be a male private part--it just strikes me as a sort of pointless complaint. I understand the complaint, and the sentiment behind it, but it just has a bit too much deflection in it.

Law schools know how your school grades - they don't just compare one LSAC GPA to another. They look at what classes you've taken, what the average grades from your school, your major are, etc. They know what they're doing - so don't worry about it.